1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to elastic moulds for the production of such castings as ice, ice cream, chocolate, jelly, cube sugar, fish paste, soap and concrete. This invention also relates to methods for manufacturing the above elastic mould.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At present, jelly and chocolate have been produced by casting them in a large mould and cutting the cake thus formed into a prescribed size. Alternatively, an array of moulds has been used to obtain the required number of products in one lot.
However, such conventional moulds as have been used in casting confectionary materials are all metal moulds, especially split moulds. These split moulds tend to leave the joint of the mould on the surface of the product thus formed, resulting in poor appearance and lower product value. Furthermore, shape design has been restricted because certain subtle shapes including reverse-tapered shaped are hard to obtain. In addition, the use of the split mould makes it difficult to withdraw the product from the mould and is often found to be very costly.
Thus, according to this invention, elastic moulds are used to produce desired products. Conventional methods for the manufacture of the elastic moulds such as the rubber-made moulds comprise dipping only a pattern itself which is mounted on a plate. The elastic mould thus manufactured, however, does not have any fixing sheet which is necessary for holding the elastic mould to a moulding machine.
Thus, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel and industrially feasible method of manufacturing elastic moulds which is characterized in that the fixing sheet is produced as an integral part together with the elastic mould to replace the conventional metal mould.